Clash of Civilizations,
Collapse of Empire

By

Andrew Roberts

Updated May 2, 2008 12:01 a.m. ET

GANDHI & CHURCHILL By Arthur Herman (Bantam, 721 pages, $30)

The rivalry between Winston Churchill and Mohandas ("Mahatma") Gandhi could hardly have been played for higher stakes. The future of British India, the "brightest jewel in the Imperial Crown" -- and thus the fate of 300 million people living on the Subcontinent -- hung upon the outcome of their 20-year struggle.